Eight public servants in Bergen and Passaic counties are set to receive $1.5 million in sick leave payouts, according to recent reports. If this does not trigger an alarm throughout New Jersey to end these special payments, I don’t know what will.

In my legislative district alone, as of 2012, we are on the hook for $27 million in accumulated unused days that will be traded in for cash in the future. This is the amount it would cost local property taxpayers to cover all of the unused sick and vacation time accrued by public employees in the towns I represent in parts of Hunterdon, Somerset, Mercer and Middlesex counties. The price tag statewide is quickly approaching $1 billion. It’s enough to make taxpayers sick.

These payouts to government workers have a real effect on local budgets and taxpayers. Many towns have to borrow money just to make these payments and they are also burdened with a multitude of other expenses that saddle their budgets. This is a billion-dollar ticking time bomb that must be defused. Every day that ticks by, our taxpayers are on the hook for millions of dollars.

Although there are many issues occupying the Legislature, I am confident that we can multi-task. Resolving payouts for unused sick time to public employees when they retire is a topic that has been stymied for the last several years. Our colleagues across the aisle have talked about fiscal prudence while ignoring this massive fiscal burden on our state.

As a sponsor of Assembly bill A158, which prohibits cash payments to government workers at retirement for unused sick leave, I am calling on my colleagues to help fix this billion-dollar problem. The provisions of the bill take effect when it is signed into law and it would not affect the accrued entitlements of current employees. Legislators need to think about future generations of taxpayers, who will likely inherit this same predicament unless we take action to solve the problems we all know exist.

Ending this practice would save taxpayers $136 billion over the next 30 years. It’s time to put an end to this special bonanza for government workers at taxpayers’ expense. If we are going to spare future generations the budget problems we face today, we can’t delay passing this reform.

Donna M. Simon, a Republican, represents the 16th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly.